Death, or not
by June Odyssey
Summary: Small Vegasverse contribution, enjoy! As most go, Sheppard survives. Infirmary scene directly after.


Sheppard moaned. Something was wrong. That something was the fact that he was supposed to be dead. He remembered. He'd fallen onto the sand and dirt of the desert floor and bled to death, he was sure of it. The bullet wound had been bleeding too badly for him to have survived... right? Tentatively he cracked an eyelid open only to be assaulted by blinding light and smashed the lid down again.

"Hey could somebody turn the lights down over here!?" Someone nearby loudly voiced his thoughts.

When the lights dimmed, Sheppard dared to open an eye again. Everything still seemed bright but not as much as before. He blinked a couple of times and his eyes adjusted.

"Sheppard?"

It took a moment but Sheppard finally recognized the speaker. "McKay."

Relief flooded McKay's face. "We thought you weren't gonna make it."

"Yer so neg'tive," Sheppard slurred slightly from being half asleep. "Wha' happ'ned?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Bullet to the shoulder. Wraith. Explosion... Dead."

A chuckle emanated from McKay. "Not quite, though I must say you gave it your best shot. We had the Daedalus, our spaceship, beam you up. They got your bleeding under control, then sent you down here. You've been unconscious for a few days."

"Were exactly is 'down here'?" Growing gradually stronger and more alert, Sheppard found the humor to raise his hands in air quotes.

An older man in green BDUs approached. "The infirmary, in the SGC, under Cheyenne mountain, in Colorado Springs, in United States, in North America, in the western hemisphere, on the planet Earth, in Earth's solar system, in the Milky Way galaxy, in the local group, located in the known universe... That's about as far I go." Receiving the intended chuckle, the newcomer smiled and introduced himself. "General Jack O'Neill."

Sheppard shook hands with the man, already deciding he liked him. "John Sheppard... but then, I expect you know that already."

"That I did."

"What does SGC stand for? I normally guess pretty good, but I'm not at the top of my game here."

"Stargate Command, and believe me I understand. I've almost bled to death more times than I can count." General O'Neill said with a grin that put Sheppard a little more at ease.

With a grin of his own Sheppard said, "No offense but dying sounded pretty good. Save the planet, die a hero, everybody's happy, right?"

"I know, you weren't expecting to come out alive, hence the reason you quit detective job," McKay spoke up.

"Not really." Sheppard sighed.

"Well, today is you're lucky day. Dr. McKay and I pulled a few strings, once you're better we're sending you to Atlantis." O'Neill enjoyed Sheppard's look of pure shock, said "I'll drop by later," and left.

"Uhh..." was the only thing that came out of Sheppard's mouth.

"You'll be outta here in less than a week. Don't worry." McKay said, grinning.

"Why?" He managed to stutter out.

"Well, one you just saved the planet; two if you're even close to you alternate self you're a hero; and three you have the strongest ATA gene we have encountered," McKay answered.

"AT-what?" Sheppard asked groggily, feeling sleepy again.

"The gene that I told you about, that operates the Ancient chair."

"Oh, that," Sheppard muttered, he was trying desperately to stay awake but his lids started to droop anyway.

"Now, you rest up. Oh, and if people call you Major don't correct them," smiling McKay turned and headed for the door.

His words caused Sheppard's lids to snap open. "What! McKay! What'd you do?!"

Without responding McKay strode out of the infirmary.

Truthfully, Sheppard was okay with the whole 'back in the Air Force' thing. What else would he do anyway? Like he'd told McKay, he had very little to loose.

* * *

**So nothing ground-breaking or anything, just a little random something, but this has been laying around on my computer for at least a year. And besides, I figured that since I contributed to Mensa'verse, I should contribute to Vegas'verse. :) Tell me what you think or drop me a smiley in the review box, either will make my day!**


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